• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.22
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• pp.9823-9829
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• 2014

Background: High-dose methotrexate (HD-MTX) is recognized as an efficient component of therapy against pediatric osteosarcoma in combination with other drugs such as cisplatin (CDP), carboplatin (CBDCA), doxorubicin (ADM), etoposide (VP-16) and ifosfamide (IFO). Objectives: To demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of the HD-MTX/CDP/DOX/VP-16/IFO [MTX(+)] protocol comparable to CDP/ADM/CBDCA/IFO [MTX(-)] for treating childhood osteosarcoma at Ramathibodi Hospital (1999-2014). Materials and Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted of osteosarcoma patients aged less than 18 years treated with two chemotherapeutic regimens between 1999 and 2014. A total of 45 patients received the MTX(-) and 21 the MTX(+) protocol. Results: Overall limb-salvage and amputation rate were 12.9% and 77.7%, respectively. Kaplan-Meier analysis results for 3-year disease free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) regardless of treatment regimens were $43.4{\pm}6.0%$ and $53.2{\pm}6.1%$ respectively. The 3-year DFS and OS were improved significantly with the MTX(+) protocol compared to MTX(-) protocol (p=0.010 and p=0.009, log rank test) [$69.8{\pm}10.5%$, $79.8{\pm}9.1%$ for MTX(+) and $31.1{\pm}6.9%$, $42.2{\pm}7.4%$ for MTX(-) protocol, respectively]. Patients with metastatic osteosarcoma treated with the MTX(+) protocol had statistically significant higher 3-year DFS and OS than those treated with the MTX(-) protocol ($66.7{\pm}13.6%$ and $15.0{\pm}8.0%$ for 3-year DFS, p=0.010, $73.3{\pm}13.2%$ and $20{\pm}8.9%$ for 3-year OS, p=0.006, respectively). The independent risk factors for having inferior 3-year DFS and OS were poor histological response (tumor necrosis <90%) and treatment with the MTX(-) protocol. The multivariate analysis identified only the treatment with the MTX(-) protocol as an independent predictor of inferior OS with a hazard ratio (HR) of 3.53 (95% confidence interval of 1.2-10.41, p=0.022). Conclusions: Our study demonstrated the tolerability, feasibility and efficacy of the HDMTX-based regimen improving the survival rate in pediatric osteosarcoma cases, in line with reports from developed countries.

• Journal of the Korean Dietetic Association
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.235-246
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• 2014

The purpose of this study was to evaluate nurses' perception of clinical nutrition services. A cross-sectional survey design was performed. The research was accomplished by using questionnaires developed for this study and administered from September 12 to December 31, 2013 to 343 nurses at 43 tertiary hospitals and 20 general hospitals. The percentage of nurses who recognized clinical nutrition certificate as issued from nation was 27.8%. The mean scores of perceived usefulness on clinical nutrition services was 4.23/5.00, whereas that of perceived implementation was 3.76/5.00. The mean scores of necessity of disease-specialized clinical dietitian at capital hospitals were significantly higher for obesity (P<0.01), cancer (P<0.05), and infant & childhood disease (P<0.01) than at local hospitals. The rates of nurses' experience in group education on cancer at capital hospitals (21.7%) was significantly higher than that at local hospitals (10.3%) (P<0.05). The mean scores of perceived importance of clinical nutrition services were 4.46/5.00 for 'group nutrition education', 4.46/5.00 for 'individual consultation', and 4.40/5.00 for 'nutrition management for enteral nutrition (EN) patients'. The most common reason why clinical nutrition services are important was 'improving malnutritional status'. To activate clinical nutrition services especially at local hospitals, clinical dietitians should give systematic assistance to patients and also institutional supports are needed.

• Korean Journal of Head & Neck Oncology
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.54-60
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• 1998

Objectives: We'd like to give help in diagnosis and treatment of children's thyoid tumor through our clinical experiences and reference consideration. Materials and Methods: The authors report their experiences with 33 cases of thyroid tumor in patients younger than 16 years of age who were treated at Presbyterian Medical Center from 1979 to 1995. Results: 1) Girls were more predominant than boys by a ratio of 5.6:1. The peak incidence was in the 15 years old of age. 2) The final diagnosis in the 33 patients were thyroid carcinoma in 12 cases, nodular goiter in 6 cases, adenoma in 6 cases, Graves disease in 4 cases, Hasimoto's disease in 4 cases and cyst in 1 case. 3) All of 12 patients with thyroid cancer had nodular tumor. 4) In 5 of 6 patients with palpable cervical lymphadenopathy, the final diagnosis was thyroid carcinoma. 5) Delayed diagnosis arose in 6 of 12 thyroid carcinomas which were treated for long periods as benign disease. 6) The surgical procedures were total thyroidectomy in 3 cases, subtotal thyroidectomy in 13 cases and thyroid lobectomy in 17 cases. 7) 11 of 12 patients with thyroid carcinoma had subtotal or total thyroidectomy with lymphnode dissection and only one had lobectomy. 8) The overall rate of postoperative complication was 3%(1 of 33 patient). 9) Postoperative $^{131}I$ therapy was done in 7 case because of recurrence and distant metastasis in six and severe local invasion in one. 10) In thyroid cancer, the metastatic rate of lymph node at initial surgery was 81%(9/11) and rate of recurrence was 50%(6/12). 11) Patients with thyroid carcinoma were followed up for a mean of 12 years but only one died as a result of thyroid carcinoma 3.5 years later. Conclusion: The authors suggest that thyroid tumors in childhood should receive the benifit of joint management by endocrine pediatrician and experianced surgeons with an agreed protocol of diagnosis and management. We, also, recommend aggressive surgical and $^{131}I$ treatment as the most effective regimen for children with thyroid carcinoma.

• Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.148-155
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• 2015

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine how wish granting influences children with life-threatening medical conditions when it comes to their adaptation to disease with a focus on the mediating effect of resilience and stress caused by disease. Methods: From January 2, 2015 through January 12, 2015, a survey was conducted on 292 children with life-threatening diseases whose wishes were granted through Make-A-Wish Korea. The data were collected using the impact of a wish scale, the Children's Adjustment to Cancer Inventory, the Childhood Cancer Stressor Inventory, and the resilience scale in children with chronic illness. The data were analyzed using SPSS/WIN 20.0 and Amos 21.0. Results: Satisfaction with the wish granting program enhances resilience, and resilience affects stress caused by medical conditions as well as adaptation to disease. Also, stress caused by medical conditions influences adaptation to disease. Conclusion: Wish granting is effective in both facilitating chronically ill children to adjust to disease and reduce their stress from disease. Thus, children with life-threatening medical conditions could be assisted or motivated to adjust to disease by improving satisfaction achieved by wish granting.

• Journal of the korean academy of Pediatric Dentistry
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.607-612
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• 2009

The malignant tumor in childhood is one of the main causes of children s death due to disease. The traditional treatment for the malignancy is known for the radiation therapy and the chemical therapy or both. However, the treatments tend to induce intraoral complications. Different from adults, almost all children on cancer therapy are expected to have dental complications, because their permanent teeth are on the developmental stage. The degree of dental complication depends on the patient's age, type of chemical and other factors-radiation dose and frequency. In this report, 3 children who had experienced the anti-cancer therapy on their age between 1 and 4 years were selected and dental complications were examined. The children have chance for the various oral complications including the developmental problems such as agenesis, microdontia and hypoplasia of the teeth. Therefore, it's important to understand the side-effects of anticancer therapy during the permanent teeth had been developmental stage in young patients. Also, oral health care specialists, including pediatric and hospital dentist can support the oncology team by providing basic oral care, implementing oral care protocols, delivering emergency dental treatment undergoing anticancer treatment.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.51 no.1
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• pp.73-77
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• 2008

Purpose : p16 gene, mapped to the 9p21 chromosomal region, has emerged as a candidate tumor suppressor gene in human neoplasm. It is an inhibitor of cyclin-dependent kinase and inhibits Rb phosphorylation. In a variety of tumors including childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), deletion and/or mutation of the p16 gene has been found. Despite their high frequency, the prognostic importance of p16 alterations is still controversial in ALL and has been reported to be either unfavorable or similar to that of other patients. We studied the correlation between loss of p16 protein confirmed by immunohistochemical staining and clinical outcomes of patients diagnosed as ALL. Methods : We performed an immunohistochemical staining for p16 protein in 74 cases of bone marrow biopsy slide initially diagnosed as ALL between January 1998 and December 2006. We reviewed the clinical manifestations, laboratory findings, treatment outcomes retrospectively. Results : Of 74 slides, 12 were negative for p16 protein. Seven were males and 5 were females with a median age at diagnosis was 5.8 (1.3-18.8) years. Initial WBC were 17,225 $(500-403,300)/{\mu}L$. By immunologic surface marker analysis, 7 patients were early pre-B CALLA (+) and 5 patients were T-cell ALL. Two patients of intermediate risk group had relapsed and died. Three patients had family history of breast cancer. Four patients died and overall survival rates were $53.5{\pm}18.7%$. Conclusion : Loss of p16 protein is supposed to be an independent risk factor of childhood ALL associated with poor outcomes. In clinical setting, the clinician must take into account p16 status, not only at the genomic but also at the protein level. Further clinical experience on thoroughly investigated cases will help a better understanding between p16 status and clinical outcomes.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.46 no.3
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• pp.242-249
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• 2003

Purpose : We studied the relationship between anthracycline cumulative dose and anthracycline cardiotoxicity in childhood cancer and followed up 40 children with anthracycline cardiotoxicity. Methods : A retrospective study was performed in 154 children who received anthracycline chemotherapy between January 1995 to December 2000. Cardiotoxicity was defined when the left ventricular fractional shortening(FS) was below 26%; it was divided into two groups, mild and severe cardiotoxicity, according to the FS. We followed up survivors with cardiotoxicity, and checked their present cardiac function by physical activity, echocardiography, electrocardiography(EKG) and chest X-ray. Results : Of the 154 children treated with anthracyclines, forty(26.0%) were diagnosed as cardiotoxicity. The incidence of cardiotoxicity increased in exponential fashion with increases in the cumulative dose of anthracyclines. There was minimal increase of incidence until a dose of $300mg/m^2$ after which the incidence increased rapidly. After mean $3.8{\pm}1.8year$ follow-up of 23 survivors with cardiotoxicity, FS increased significantly. EKG and chest X-rays were not helpful for the diagnosis of cardiotoxicity because of their low sensitivity and specificity. Conclusion : Although convenient, non-invasive and inexpensive, EKG and chest X-rays were not helpful for the follow-up of anthracycline cardiotoxicity. Almost all survivors with anthracycline cardiotoxicity have improved in both physical activity and echocardiographic findings after discontinuation of anthracyclines.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.142-145
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• 2001

Purpose : Acute leukemia with hyperleukocytosis (more than $10^5/mm^3$) is at high risk of early sudden death, usually from intracerebral hemorrhage. Emergency cranial irradiation is a relatively simple approach to solve this the problem. We summarized our experience of cranial irradiation in 24 leukemic children who presented with hyperleukocytosis. Methods and Materials : Between 1990 and 1998, 40 children with acute leukemia presenting with hyperleukocytosis were referred for emergency cranial irradiation. Among these patients, 24 children were evaluable. There were 16 boys and eight girls, their ages ranged from 2 to 13 years (median 9.5 years). The initial leukocyte counts ranged $109,910/mm^3\;to\;501,000/mm^3$. Peripheral blood smear was peformed in all patients and noted the morphology of the blast. Introduction of emergency cranial irradiation was determined by the leukocyte counts (more than 100,000/mm) and the existence of the blast in peripheral blood smear. All patients were treated with intravenous hydration with alkaline fluid and oral allopurinol. Cranial irradiation started on the day of diagnosis. With 2 Gy in one fraction in 4 patients, 4 Gy in two fractions in 20 patients. Results : The WBC count had fallen in 19 patients (83%) and no intracerebral hemorrhage occurred after irradiation. There were five cases of early deaths. Four patients died of metabolic complications, and one patient with intracerebral hemorrhage. He died 5 hours after cranial irradiation. No patient had any immediate side effect from cranial irradiation. Conclusion : Our data suggest, that emergency cranial irradiation can be safely chosen and effective in childhood leukemic patients presenting with high leukocyte counts.

• Journal of Home Health Care Nursing
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.135-147
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• 2001

The aim of this descriptive study was to identify the impact of chronic illness on children and their families. Mothers of 177 children with chronic disease were recruited from aged one to 17 years hospitalizing the pediatric nursing unit at one university hospital. 28 questions. a self-complete maternal questionnaire developed by researchers based on literatures and 'The Impact of Childhood Illness Scale' (Hoare & Russell, 1995) assess four aspects of the child's and family's lifestyle with two dimensions for each question. the frequency of the problem and its importance of concern that it cause. In the data analysis. Pearson correlation coefficients and analysis of variance were used to test any association and a statistical comparisons. between individual variables and the impact on child's and family's lifestyle. The results were as follows: 1) There were the higher mean scores on the importance dimension than on the frequency dimension on total impact on child's and family's lifestyle. On the importance dimension. mothers had much higher levels of concern about impact on child's development and adjustment among subscales. On the frequency dimension, mothers had much higher levels of concern about impact on the family daily living on subscales. 2) The impact on child's and family's lifestyle related on individual variables were: (1) On the importance dimension. there was statistically significant low in the impact on child's development and adjustment among subscales in older parent group compared with it of younger parent group. (2) On the frequency dimension. there were statistically significant high in the impact on child's development and adjustment among subscales in the children with leukemia or cancer compared with it of the other children who had another chronic illnesses. And there were statistically significant high in the impact on child's development and adjustment among subscales in less than high school educated mothers compared with it of mothers who was educated college level. (3) On the frequency dimension. There were statistically significant high in the impact on family's daily living among subscales and total impact on child's and family's lifestyle in female children. (4) There was positive correlation between impact on parents daily living and frequency of child's hospitalization on the frequency dimension. but there was negative correlation between the two variables on the importance dimension. (5) There was positive correlation between impact of chronic illness and its treatment and duration of child's hospitalization on the frequency dimension. In conclusion. these results were reflected by the high level of concerns about impact on child's development and adjustment although mothers had frequently responded about the impact on the family daily living. We suggest consistent intervening program that help the family empowering to make children live with and adjust to their chronic illnesses from the point of diagnosis and after discharge from the hospital. We also suggest these results can be utilized as a useful data in the practice of home health nursing for children who have chronic illnesses and their families.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.51 no.11
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• pp.1211-1216
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• 2008

Purpose : Diamond-Blackfan anemia (DBA) is a rare heterogeneous genetic disorder of infancy and early childhood. It is characterized by red cell aplasia, congenital anomalies, and a predisposition to cancer. Corticosteroids and red cell transfusions are the mainstays of therapy. We describe our experience of 6 cases of DBA that were encountered over a period of 16 years. Methods : Medical records of 6 patients diagnosed to have DBA and admitted to the Chonnam National University Hospital between 1992 and 2008 were retrospectively reviewed. Results : Three patients were males. The age at diagnosis ranged from 3 to 18 months (median, 5.5 months). Heart defects were observed in 4, polydactyly in 2, and strabismus in 1 patient. The median number of transfusions was 3 (range, 2-8). All patients responded to initial treatment with steroids and had a hemoglobin level ${\geq}9g/dL$ with a median of 12.5 days (range, 7-22 days). Three patients are currently not receiving steroid therapy. A minimum dose of oral prednisolone (<5 mg per day) was required to maintain hemoglobin ${\geq}9mg/dL$ in 3 cases. Red cell transfusion was infrequently required in 1 patient. In the median follow-up of 14 years, there was no development of malignancy. No significant side effects of steroids were found, except for short stature in 2. Conclusion : The majority of DBA patients achieved complete response and under maintenance therapy with low dose of steroids. Close observation is needed to monitor steroid side effects, cardiac function, and development of malignancy. A nation-wide survey is necessary to further characterize this rare disease in Korean children.